A streetlight flickered as I drove the cherry-red '67 Ford Mustang convertible through the never-ending suburban streets. It was late, all the houses were dark with their curtains drawn. Nothing was moving, except possibly a back yard raccoon trying to steal food from somebody's garbage.
Julia and I had flown into New York on the red-eye. We were trying to save a bit of money on our big American holiday whilst still treating ourselves. That's why I'd hired the classic Mustang, a car I'd always wanted to drive.
"How lost do you think we are?" said Julia, looking out of the car window at the endless procession of driveways and houses.
"Pretty lost, these streets all look the same to me." The downside of a classic car is that there's no Sat-Nav to help you find your way, you're back to the old fashioned maps and written-down directions. We didn't have those either.
As we approached a "Stop" sign at an intersection I could see that there were no cars coming from any direction. It seemed pointless to stop only to pull away again immediately so I just kept on rolling right through. The sudden flashing blue lights of a police car told me I'd made a mistake.
The Police Interceptor came up behind me and I pulled over at the side of a quiet street that looked just the same as every other street we'd been driving down for the past hour. In the rearview mirror I watched the New York state police office get out of his car and walk slowly towards my window.
"At least we might be able to ask him for directions," said Julia.
He tapped on the window and I rolled it down.
"This your car sir?" he asked.
"It's a rental, my girlfriend and I are on holiday but we're a bit lost, would you be able..." He cut me off.
"Licence and registration," he said.
I reached across Julia to the glovebox. The cop shone his torch into the car, at first I thought he was trying to help me, but it seemed like the beam was resting more on Julia's legs than the open compartment. She was wearing a short pleated skirt that showed them off her and, coupled with long socks, was a look I found extremely cute.
"I can't seem to find the registration, officer," I said.